Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund: Klassiker Ends in Entertaining Draw (2-2)

The intense Klassiker lived up to its billing, as Borussia Dortmund stunned the Allianz Arena early with a surprise opener to shift the momentum. Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich responded with a composed comeback, but the visitors battled back late to secure a well-earned draw in a fiercely contested derby.

Tactical analysis and match report by Fahd Ahmed.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund had similar mid-week results in the Champions League quarterfinals ahead of their clash. The Bavarians were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Inter Milan, whilst Dortmund suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to the high-flying Barcelona. With crucial second-leg ties set up for Vincent Kompany and Niko Kovač, whilst trying to balance their league performances, both had to carefully decide their line-ups for the Klassiker.

To the surprise of many, Kompany only made one alteration to the starting eleven, with Thomas Müller featuring instead of Raphaël Guerreiro in the frontline. On the other hand, Kovač made quite a few changes. Since he wanted to field a more defensively robust side, Jamie Gittens was benched for Niklas Süle, who filled in at right centre-back as part of Dortmund’s defensive five. Ramy Bensebaini was rested, so Daniel Svensson started at left-back. In midfield, Salih Özcan and Pascal Groß were chosen ahead of Carney Chukwuemeka and Felix Nmecha. Up front, Maximilian Beier was paired with Serhou Guirassy, whilst Karim Adeyemi was also rested.

The first half played out as expected . . .